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David Bowie Tribute Organizer Wants the Roots to Return

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Courtesy of WENN Newsdesk

The brains behind a pair of star-studded David Bowie tribute gigs is upset a drum kit row led to the Roots pulling out of a performance.

Band member Questlove took to Instagram on Wednesday night and revealed his group had pulled out of the Music Of David Bowie charity function due to a “b**tcha**” attitude from other musicians surrounding the sharing of equipment.”

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And although Questlove didn’t name names during his social media outburst, concert manager Michael Dorf suggests another band may have been the cause of the problem.

“There was a miscommunication about the use of the Holy Holy’s drum kit last night on the tight City Winery stage for the rehearsal show,” he wrote in a statement released to Billboard on Thursday.

Music Of… events have been taking place for 13 years, with high-profile musicians coming forth to pay tribute to legends like David Byrne and the Talking Heads, Prince, Neil Young, and Bob Dylan in the past.

The proceeds from the shows benefit music education, and The Roots have been part of several of these charitable concerts.

“(We) deeply love and respect them,” Dorf said of the Roots. “I remain hopeful they will still join the important celebration of David Bowie’s music tonight and tomorrow and the two sold out shows can experience their powerful performance as one of the 20 amazing songs planned.”

But this seems unlikely, as Questlove is already booked for another gig, informing fans on Instagram he’ll be playing at the Brooklyn Bowl on Thursday as part of a Tribe Called Quest tribute to Phife Dawg, who passed away on March 22.

Meanwhile, A-listers such as Cyndi Lauper and Debbie Harry will be part of the tribute shows on Thursday and Friday, which will take place at New York City’s Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall, respectively.

The event was announced before Bowie died on January 10, and demand to attend the shows grew so high after his passing, Dorf had to add a second night.